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3. Types of windows in SPSS
Data Editor
A spreadsheet-like system for defining, entering, editing and displaying data. It contains two views, the Data View and the Variable View. To switch between the views, click on the tab in the lower left hand corner of your screen. Data can be typed directly into the grid or imported from a wide variety of software formats, including Excel, MSAccess, My SQL, Lotus 1-2-3, SYSTAT, dBASE, FoxPro, Paradox and any database format for which you have an ODBC driver. This window opens automatically when you start an SPSS session, and you can have multiple datasets open simultaneously.
Viewer
Displays all statistical results, tables, and charts. It provides a system for browsing results, selectively showing and hiding output, printing it, and moving presentation quality tables and charts between SPSS and word processing software, such as MS Word. This window opens automatically the first time output is generated.
Draft Viewer
Displays output as simple text rather than interactive pivot tables.
Pivot Table Editor
Provides a means for editing results displayed in pivot tables. Using this editor you can interactively manipulate the layout of a table, swap rows and columns, edit text or add color. The Pivot Table Editor is activated by double-clicking on a pivot table. When it is active, hash marks appear around the table. Click outside the table to turn off the editor. If the table is quite large, then it opens in it’s own Table Editor Window.
Chart Editor
allows you to modify high-resolution charts and plots in a separate chart window. Double click anywhere on the chart to invoke the chart editor. You can change the colors, edit text within the chart, switch the horizontal and vertical axes, rotate 3-D scatter plots, change the chart type, or export the chart to another Windows application.
Text Output Editor
Double-clicking on text output activates the text output editor. Use the Text Output Editor to modify text, change font characteristics, or copy and paste new text.
Syntax Editor
Most SPSS commands are accessible from menus and dialog boxes, but a few options are available only by using SPSS command language in a Syntax window. You can open a Syntax window (from the main menu, select File > New > Syntax) and type commands directly into the window. You can also copy syntax commands from the output log or create the syntax from choices made in a dialog box. By default, SPSS records the syntax equivalent of all commands executed during a session in a journal file, and this file can be saved for later use. See the “Journal File” item below for details. To learn about the command language options available for a procedure, click on Help and Command Syntax Reference, and then click on the desired procedure.
Script Editor
The scripting facility allows you to automate tasks in SPSS, including customizing output, opening and saving files, and running data transformations. Some sample scripts are supplied by SPSS which you can modify, or you can create your own. The sample scripts are located in: “C:\Program Files\SPSS\Scripts”.
Each window has it's own menu bar and tool bar, with selections appropriate for that window. Some menu choices, such as Analyze and Graphs, are available in all windows. Tool bars can be positioned and aligned as you choose, and you can see a brief description of each tool by placing the cursor on the tool. You can also customize toolbars to contain the features you use most often. Each window also contains a status bar at the bottom, which contains such items as an information area, filter status area, and a weight status area. You can have multiple datasets open simultaneously, but only one can be the “active dataset”. It will be designated as such by a green plus sign in the icon in the title bar, in the upper left corner. You can change the active dataset by clicking anywhere in the Data Editor window of the data source that you want to use. Only the variables in the active dataset are available for analysis.
You can have several open Syntax and output Viewer windows, but only one of each type can be the "designated" one. The "designated" window should not be confused with the "active" window. The “designated” Viewer window is the one to which new output is routed, while the “active” window is the window currently in the foreground. To change the designated window, make the selected window the active window and then click on the green plus sign in the tool bar. Once selected, the designated window will have a green plus sign in the icon in the upper left corner.
Most menu selections open dialog boxes containing variable lists and command push buttons, from which you select the variables and options needed for analysis. Some push buttons open subdialog boxes for additional options. When all selections are complete, click the "OK" button to initiate the process. If you click the "Paste" push button, command syntax is generated and pasted into a Syntax window where it can be edited and special options added before running it. The command syntax can also be saved to a file for future editing, execution, or processing with SPSS Production Facility.
